inaccurate and that other commercial providers besides Verizon, like
Comcast,Yipes, etc, will also be allowed to offer wireless service, but it's
no arena for a government entity unless all providers refuse to do it.
...
These type of blanket statements are made completely without basis. Now, there may be plenty of reasons why a specific gov't run wifi network is a bad idea, but this is not one of them.
For as many poorly run municipality run utilities there are just as many well run ones, especially in the telecom arena. Municipalities aren't the only way to go. They could just as easily establish a Collective to run it, as many local ISPs were (at least in the early days, and some still are). Also, just because one arm of the local government is poorly run (Gas service) doesn't mean that a completely separate and independent arm won't be run well and in the public interest. Look at our own NYC city government. There are plenty of services that are terribly mismanaged, and plenty more that are efficiently run.
There's also the expectation that this should be a money maker for the city, which is a very bad assumption to make. Depending on how it is set up, it may turn out to be profitable, but such services shouldn't be expected to be cash flow positive, especially at the start. The primary goal should be to provide service, especially to underserved areas, at a reasonable cost. Only then should they be thinking about making money on the service.
Dana�Spiegel Director, NYCwireless [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.nycwireless.net
On Nov 23, 2004, at 7:59 PM, Jim Henry wrote:
Philly already owns its own gas works. It's been terribly mismanaged over
the years and is a money loser rather than money maker for the city. They've
got no track record to start an effort like this. I hope this report is
inaccurate and that other commercial providers besides Verizon, like
Comcast,Yipes, etc, will also be allowed to offer wireless service, but it's
no arena for a government entity unless all providers refuse to do it.
Jim
http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Dustin Goodwin Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2004 12:21 AM To: Rob Kelley Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [nycwireless] Pennsylvania legislature gets suckered(?)
Verizon and the other carriers have been blocking municipal telecom infrastructure build out for years. This is nothing new.
- Dustin -
Rob Kelley wrote:
legislatureSome said making all downtown Philly wireless was too ambitious (not me), but now according to muniwireless.com the Pennsylvaniahas passed a law that prohibits its and gives the whole gameto playersYOU CAN BUYlike Verizon:
As Harold Feld puts it: "It looks like a public subsidy to build infrastructure, but, thanks to the statute, THE ONLY PLACEIT FROM IS VERIZON!"
It's on the governor's desk, awaiting his signature:
http://www.muniwireless.com/archives/000509.html
Rob
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